May 7th is the National Day of Prayer in the United States. Our country is in dire spiritual straits and in much need of God’s mercy and guidance.
The Sacred Scripture chosen for this year is I Kings 8:28. Regard kindly the prayer and petition of Your servant, Lord, my God, and listen to the cry of supplication which I, Your servant, utter before You this day.
In lieu of a regular blog post I’d like for everyone (even those outside the U.S.) to take a moment to pray for your country.
Here is the prayer found on the National Day of Prayer website led by Dr. Jack Graham.
Heavenly Father,
We come to You in the Name that is above every name—Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Our hearts cry out to You.
Knowing that You are a prayer-answering, faithful God—the One we trust in times like these—we ask that You renew our spirits, revive our churches, and heal our land.
We repent of our sins and ask for Your grace and power to save us. Hear our cry, oh God, and pour out Your Spirit upon us that we may walk in obedience to Your Word.
We are desperate for Your tender mercies. We are broken and humbled before You.
Forgive us, and in the power of Your great love, lift us up to live in Your righteousness.
We pray for our beloved nation. May we repent and return to You and be a light to the nations. And we pray for our leaders and ask that You give them wisdom and faith to follow You.
Preserve and protect us, for You are our refuge and only hope.
Deliver us from all fears except to fear You, and may we courageously stand in the Truth that sets us free.
We pray with expectant faith and grateful hearts.
In Jesus’ name, our Savior.
Amen.
More information about the National Day of Prayer can be found here.
I’d like to leave you with a taize song that I believe is the prayer of all of our hearts, today and always.
Deb Kastner‘s May release from Harlequin Love Inspired is her reprinted 2 for 1 Classics The Marine’s Baby and His Texas Bride.
~~Love Courageously~~ Publisher's Weekly Bestselling, award-winning author of 30 novels, Deb Kastner enjoys writing contemporary inspirational western stories set in small communities. She feels especially blessed to be able to include faith as a natural and genuine part of her characters' lives. Deb lives in beautiful Colorado with her husband and a pack of miscreant mutts. She is blessed with three adult daughters and two grandchildren. Her favorite hobby is spoiling her grandchildren, but she also enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to music (The Texas Tenors are her fav), singing in the church choir, and exploring the Rocky Mountains on horseback.
Deb, thanks for sharing that.
Our nation needs to return to the Lord! And what better way then to have a National Day of Prayer! Our church participates by having a prayer breakfast at our community center here. We gather not only to eat a good meal, but to come before the Lord for our nation. I know other communities do other things as well. It’s amazing to think of how many people around our nation are praying for one purpose, whether in a group setting or as in a family gathering or just individually. There is power in prayer, amen for that!
Thank you for sharing that prayer and the song today Deb. Really enjoyed both!